The present invention relates generally to dental appliances. More particularly, the invention relates to dental appliances for drug delivery with integrally formed reservoirs and dental appliances capable of displaying an ornamental design.
Dental appliances, such as braces (wire brackets) and retainers, have been used by teenagers and adults for several decades to straighten and maintain tooth positioning. However, these dental appliances, particularly wires and brackets, can be unsightly, uncomfortable, and cumbersome for the patient.
To address these issues with wires and brackets, removable polymeric shell appliances (e.g., aligners) were developed to straighten teeth. Clear aligners, such as the Invisalign® aligners manufactured by Align Technology, Inc. of San Jose, Calif., are virtually invisible as well as comfortable. Such appliances may have a thin shell of plastic material that generally conforms to a patient's teeth but is slightly out of alignment with an initial or immediately prior tooth configuration. Placement of the appliance over the teeth applies controlled forces in specific locations to gradually move the teeth into the new configuration. Repetition of this process with successive appliances comprising new configurations eventually moves the teeth through a series of intermediate configurations or alignment patterns to a final desired configuration. A number of dental and periodontal therapies which may be desired or required by the patient may not be effectively utilized while the appliance is in place, in some instances. Such therapies may be prescribed by a practitioner to improve oral health or they may be requested by the patient for cosmetic purposes.
Unlike patients with braces, the patient wearing aligners has the freedom to eat anything he or she desires because the aligners are removable. Furthermore, removable aligners allow for easier care and cleaning of teeth. Patients are able to customize their braces by choosing the colors for the wires and brackets as well as the rubber bands that are worn with the wires and brackets. This ability to customize is especially attractive to teenagers. Thus, it would be desirable to provide aligners that are capable of being integrated with color and/or customized by the patient and/or also capable of providing therapies for a patient.
Furthermore, sometimes therapies and agents are provided with a variety of accessories and devices that are applied when the receiving appliance is removed from the patient's mouth. Thus, it would be desirable to provide an appliance that can provide a drug delivery method without removal of the appliance, which can eliminate the need for such removal and additional devices by integrating such therapies with the appliance.